This invention relates to an insert bin for use with a rollout type waste container or cart. In the waste industry, insert bins are customarily used by waste haulers to reduce the interior volume of rollout waste containers, which likewise limits the volume of refuse or recyclable material that a customer may deposit in the container in between waste collection pick-ups by the waste hauler.
Although alternative methods and devices exist to reduce the volume of refuse collected by waste haulers, such methods and devices are often cost-prohibitive for waste haulers to use. For example, while a waste hauler could elect to purchase and distribute waste carts with 20 gallon interiors in response to a governmental regulation requiring that a 35 gallon interior be reduced by 15 gallons, such a purchase would be impractical if the service area of the waste hauler extended across a district not subject to the 20 gallon restriction. Under such circumstances, the waste hauler would end up also having to purchase separate equipment for lifting and emptying the 20-gallon waste carts or else have to resort to an alternative means of reducing the interior volume of those waste carts distributed in those districts subject to the 20 gallon restriction.
While insert bins are currently available in the marketplace, the bins are inadequate because they use mechanical fasteners to retain the bin in place within respective waste carts. Such mechanical fasteners include rivets, push pins, clips and/or nut-and-bolt assemblies Other insert bins do not require mechanical fasteners, but are instead press-fit in place within respective waste carts. Such an insert bin relies solely on the resulting vacuum created between the walls of the bin and the waste cart to maintain the bin within the interior of the cart.
Regardless of whether mechanical fasteners or press-fitting is employed, prior art bins often fail in the field. The grippers on waste hauling trucks exert an extreme amount of force on a waste cart as the grippers lift the cart to dump its contents into the truck. This force distorts both the walls of the bin and the shape of the waste cart. Because the shape of the insert bin is not distorted to the same degree as the surrounding waste cart, pressure is concentrated on the mechanical fasteners that connect the insert bin to the waste cart. This pressure shears many of the fasteners into two pieces; in other cases, it pulls the fastener components apart.
For those insert bins that are press fit in place within the interiors of waste carts, the distortion the waste cart suffers during the waste collection process can cause separation between the waste cart and the insert bin, which in turn breaks the vacuum and allows the insert bin to slide out of the interior as refuse is being emptied into the truck. Furthermore, the waste cart and insert bin usually differ from one another with respect to the manufacturing processes, wall thicknesses or materials used—any one of these differences will cause a differential in shrinkage or expansion of the insert bin and waste cart when they are exposed to hot or cold temperatures. This differential can nullify the press fit and cause the insert bin to separate from and ultimately slide out of the waste cart.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providing an insert bin that is held in place within the interior of a waste cart without the use of separate mechanical components or a press fit. The insert bin instead takes advantage of a component that already exists on a waste cart for another purpose—the lift bar. The lift bar permits trucks equipped with specific types of gripping arms to grasp the bar, and lift and empty the waste container. In addition to performing this function, the lift bar of the waste cart is utilized in the present invention to lock the insert bin in position within the interior of the waste cart in a manner that minimizes vertical motion of the bin when the waste cart is turned upside down. Securing the insert bin within the waste cart in this manner also prevents any liquid or moisture becoming trapped between the insert bin and waste cart.